


Nice Day for a White Wedding

by Aaronmizuno



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F, Marriage Proposal, Wedding Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21728602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaronmizuno/pseuds/Aaronmizuno
Summary: After Eli and Nozomi finally tie the knot, Maki is left reeling.She gets some air to clear her thoughts, but she isn't left alone for long.
Relationships: Ayase Eli/Toujou Nozomi, Nishikino Maki/Yazawa Nico
Comments: 10
Kudos: 61





	Nice Day for a White Wedding

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Blinkkittylove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blinkkittylove/gifts).



The rust-colored leaves were laced with lines of crystalline white and each breath that Maki released billowed visibly in the late-evening chill. She’d left her scarf and gloves back at the reception hall, leaving one hand in the care of her after-dinner coffee and the other loose in the pocket of her open white knee-length coat.  
  
Thankfully, her dress wasn’t short for a change.  
  
This hadn’t been that kind of performance.  
  
Each step crunched, whether by fallen leaf or settling frost. The sharpness of each footfall helped to build a wall between herself and the enthusiastic reception she was leaving behind. Too much noise. Too many voices.  
  
Still...  
  
It had been _such_ a beautiful wedding.  
  
Something she’d never dared to hope for.  
  
Two veils. Two trains of lace. Two of her best friends taking vows that their hearts had already committed to long ago.  
  
Poor Nozomi hadn’t stopped crying from the moment she started walking down the aisle.   
  
Even with the much-needed distance, the reservations that had almost prevented her from coming had trouble reclaiming their hold. Coming here was the right choice. Being able to re-compose and play that duet from all those years ago was just… so perfect.  
  
Besides. She’d needed a break. With only one year of college remaining, the new routine she’d finally settled into and accepted was about to be upended again. After so many consecutive years of intense studies, internships, and extra-curriculars… seeing the girls again was _such_ a relief.  
  
It was a little scary, how much she loved them.  
  
Overwhelming.  
  
So here she was, walking away from food, friends, drink, and dancing. Walking back to the church where thrown rice joined the crunching underfoot. Poor Hanayo had been _so_ confused.  
  
She tested the door and found it unlocked. She let herself in, breathing in the strangely familiar scent of old books and settled dust. Matters of faith and belief hadn’t come up much with Eli, so this choice of venue turned out to be a real surprise for most of them. It was another new thing. Different. Foreign.  
  
Way more welcoming than Maki had expected.  
  
It took Umi a bit longer to warm up to it.  
  
She took another pull of coffee as she re-entered the “sanctuary.” With the lights off, there was only the fading light through the stained glass. This was far more opulent than the churches she’d seen back home. Storied. There was a history here that even she could feel. Nothing of the divinity she’d assumed people of faith would experience… but…  
  
There’d probably been a lot of weddings here.  
  
The revelry of the reception was completely lost in this space. That... beautiful moment had joined what was probably countless others, absorbed into the walls and pews. The magnificent acoustics of the hall no longer carried whispers and songs. Now there were only her slow, aimless footsteps.  
  
Maki took another drink. She frowned at the cup that had emptied far faster than expected. The chill kept her coming back to it for more, but now that warmth was gone. The comfort of friends, the thrill of music… those faded too. The light here was so dim, but sufficient to betray the waves of dust that weaved in the meager remaining sunbeams painting the ceiling.  
  
She dropped the cup on a pew. She shrugged off her coat and left it in the aisle. Her wandering steps carried her to the piano they’d brought in since the organ was an absolute no for the sound she’d intended. She turned and leaned against it. Sitting on the bench would bring too much temptation. For now, she’d just find comfort in proximity.  
  
Gone was the reverence she’d used to feel for music and it’s instruments. After so much give and take, they were on far too familiar terms for that.  
  
The church, for all its formidable appearance, was drafty. Her breath was visible enough to obscure the depictions of stories she never bothered to learn. How would those stories hold up to the one she saw here today? Two wonderful people who, through so many different circumstances, had traveled so far for just the _chance_ to meet.  
  
Their story had never dazzled her as much as it had today.  
  
… and they got _married.  
  
_ A long exhalation. A stream of white passing into the deepening chill.  
  
The door opened again. Footsteps far more audible than her own had been. More focused. Maki’s reactionary frown at being intruded upon immediately relaxed. Even though she couldn’t see that far off, she recognized that pace. The _other_ reason this had been such an amazing week.  
  
Stopping only to pick up Maki’s coat, a _very_ bundled Nico padded over to her with a stern ‘are you kidding me’ glare. Her voice carried clearly as she scolded, “You _know_ … a future doctor should lead by example, _princess_ Maki.”  
  
Offering only a haphazard shrug in reply, Maki leaned back into the piano more and tried not to stare. To look anywhere but at her. Rather than play into their usual banter on titles and occupations, Maki let the melancholy and reverence of the occasion hold sway.  
  
They _were_ alone after all.  
  
“I think that was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”  
  
She’d used _that_ tone. Thoughtful. Distant with immediate presence. It seemed to take Nico off guard for a moment. It had… been a while since she’d offered up talk like this. First time in months.  
  
Nico seemed to respect that… just like she always did when she managed to read the mood. She’d gotten a lot better at that over the past couple of years. Silently, Nico offered Maki her coat, waiting until she accepted before joining her beside the piano. She’d let the moment stand for a moment before replying, “That new composition was worth waiting for. It really kicked up the magic. Nico was moved.”  
  
“I saw,” Maki smiled lightly, “I was worried your mascara was going to run.”  
  
“Nico only uses the good stuff these days. Nozomi put it through a lot more than Nico did.”  
  
The silence held for a minute. Somewhere during those sixty seconds, Nico had slid closer. Arm to arm. Head tilted toward Maki’s shoulder. It was nice. Nico was warm. She was always warm… and she always smelled nice.  
  
“Did you ever…,” Maki began hesitantly, still forming the words, “... you know… think about doing something like this?”  
  
A sharp breath out the nose from Nico, followed by an amused, “Uh. _Yeah._ Haven’t you?”  
  
Still uncertain why the words were coming, Maki let them speak for her, “Not in a positive way, no. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you’d want a western wedding. They’re flashier. I always assumed you’d prefer a traditional Shinto one at a shrine.”  
  
“Nico wants both,” she shrugged, still light with mischief, “Along with any other ways a person can tell the world that _this_ is my person.”  
  
“Even though you’re an idol?”  
  
Another shrug, “Don’t underestimate Nico’s capacity for dreams.”  
  
Maki’s smile deepened. After a moment, she replied, “I like that. Capacity for dreams.”  
  
“I’m guessing your parents put you off the marriage idea pretty early on.”  
  
Maki’s smile waned, “... pretty much… though I think today changed that for me.”  
  
Nico pressed in further, teasing in her tone, “So now Maki-chan wants to be a bride~?”  
  
“I… think I might like the idea,” Maki managed, “... indulging in a display like that. It’s a really beautiful statement. Powerful.”  
  
With less teasing, downright soft, “... Anyone in mind?”  
  
Seven years and she’d only got better at playing her. Maki leaned her head back and let out another long steamy breath. This was really all too much, but she just couldn’t get her heart back on lock-down. Melancholy sidestepped to pangs of romance. Romance shimmied into insecurity. Insecurity pirouetted away, shedding its disguise and revealed as a deep hot cocoa of affection. She chanced a look down and met wide _honestly_ curious eyes.  
  
She held the contact. Maki didn’t pull away.  
  
Nico’s expression relaxed. Her brow suggested sympathy as she filled the silence Maki laid down, “Maki-chan… You can’t tell me you’re thinking about things like that just because we’ve made out a few times…”  
  
The response only hurt a little… and not as a rejection. More… indignant. Before she could respond, Nico continued, “I mean, look at you. You’ve probably locked lips with _plenty_ of other girls by now. Not to say that Nico wouldn’t be the best of the bunch.”  
  
Nico swallowed as Maki simply held her gaze. A long moment later, Maki finally managed, “You’d be wrong.”  
  
Finally breaking eye contact, Maki watched the light behind the stained glass dim further. She stretched an arm around the smaller, slightly shivering, woman and sighed. A light squeeze before continuing, “What we have and haven’t done physically is the _least_ of what makes the idea of… this... so appealing.”  
  
In a smaller voice than Maki had heard from her in half a decade, Nico asked, “... With… with _me_?”  
  
The chill of the hall was settling in deeply now. It made it all the easier for her body to respond to the inclination to turn and hug the little furnace closer. Just as paradoxically simple as it was to answer, “I can’t imagine it being anyone else.”  
  
And there it was. That was where these thoughts were leading. More to herself than to Nico, Maki affirmed, “I think I would like this. With us.”  
  
The hall was now silent as well as cold. A strong breeze whistled against the walls. A distant shriek of laughter, sounded like Honoka, caught Maki’s ear. Her mind should be whirling right now. The tempest of indecision and anxiety that should have accompanied such a declaration was completely absent. Just a sense of finality. One way or another, this would close one chapter of her life and start a new one.  
  
“... You wouldn’t want to like… date first?” Nico chanced, still so quiet.  
  
Maki shrugged, still not having let go, “You date to get to know one another. No one knows me better than you, and it’s not like there’s ever been anyone else.”  
  
Nico stepped back from the hug, but still held to Maki’s sides. Creating distance. Pinning her with an intense stare and taking a few breaths before answering, “Let’s do it.”  
  
And with that, reality returned. The shock she should have felt at having let so much slip so easily, the anticipation and anxiousness of the pause, the exhilaration of the event itself and the fantasy of sharing that experience… it all struck home at once. While her mind and heart reeled, her body kept the conversation rolling with a crooked smile and a laugh.  
  
“What? Like, now?”  
  
“ _Right_ now,” Nico insisted, eyes gleaming and grin filled with purpose. She began to pull Maki toward the alter, making her laugh all the harder. They awkwardly stumbled to the podium before Nico finally stopped tugging. She let go and, after a moment of looking around, yanked the decorative sash that hung over the podium’s sides off. Sheets of paper scattered across the alter.  
  
“What are you doing?” Maki laughed as Nico examined the cloth critically, frowned, and threw it aside to instead unwind the scarf Maki had given her last year from her shoulders.  
  
Nico locked eyes with Maki once more, “Just for us. We can do the big public thing later but… right now. You an’ me. A hand-fasting. In front of… of… of whatever the name of the god these people worship is.”  
  
“Pretty sure it’s just ‘God.’”  
  
Brows crossed, “That can’t be right.”  
  
Laughter fell apart into giggles as Nico shook her head, now a bit harder to see, and regained her grin. A conspiratorial hush came over their voices as Maki managed to get her voice under control to ask, “How does this work?”  
  
“Nozomi told me about it. They were considering this but Eli wanted the big ‘to do’,” Nico explained as she took Maki’s hand in hers, “Just… follow along.”  
  
“Three years ago, you gave me this scarf,” Nico began, draping an end loosely over Maki’s wrist and carefully weaving it around, “At the beginning of what turned into an _amazing_ weekend.”  
  
She continued to encircle their joined hands as she confided, “I think about that weekend… _all_ the time. We’ve done a lot since, but… that’s when I think I first knew I wanted… _this._ ”  
  
Before Maki could suggest that she should have said so sooner, Nico continued, still wrapping, “All the ‘we couldn’t’ and ‘we shouldn’t’ didn’t matter right then. I had another tour about to get started, my writers had, like, three new singles they wanted me to record, Eli had started dropping hints that she wanted to do… all this.”  
  
She ran out of scarf before it could loop around again, so she let it drop loose as she finished, “But the only thing I could think about was you and how _happy_ I am when I’m with you. Even when you’re a grouchy butt. Even before you had your morning coffee. Even when you’re the most frustratingly unaware, stubbornly duty-centered, unintentionally flirty with _everyone_ ** _but_** me…”  
  
Maki cleared her throat, eyebrows low, earning her a grin of acknowledgment before Nico wrapped up, “When I think of being happy, I think of two things. Killing it onstage, and being with you. With _this_ , I vow to do as much as I can to keep _both_ of those dreams alive… and to help yours come true too.”  
  
After a beat, the light almost completely faded now, Maki whispered, “That was... “  
  
Nico picked up again as Maki let silence fall again, “That was a _vow_. Because _this_ is our super-secret unofficial wedding. Your turn.”  
  
Maki’s head went blank. It was hard to see because it was dark and her cheeks were cold because at some point while laughing her eyes had realized just what was happening and cued the waterworks. The moment stretched and she realized she had to say _something_. Her mouth opened a few times before she managed to eloquently stammer, “I… I r-really really… I… you… ** _I do!_** ”  
  
She wished she could just lean in and hide her undoubtedly red face in Nico’s shoulder, but with their hands wrapped up like this, she just couldn’t manage it. Nico didn’t make it any easier, as any disappointment she may have had at the… kinda-sorta-vow was covered up with a bark of laughter that carried through the hall. It took almost a minute before Nico calmed enough to assure with a wink, “I’m sure you’ll… do this better for the live performance.”  
  
“Just give me a minute, let me think!”  
  
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll talk plenty later. Just kiss your wife already, okay?”  
  
Maki closed her eyes, redundant as the light had already completely faded, and leaned in, meeting Nico halfway.  


* * *

**Authors Notes:**  
  
This was a super fun little indulgence that served as my side of a fic gift-swap. Really helped me get moving again after MANY months of rough times. Got me to finally finish the next chapter of Nishikino (should be finished with it's beta test either tonight or tomorrow) and put me in a _much_ better head-space.

Vaguely related, we're goin' to Live Fest! Whooo!~


End file.
